…tales of an American expat in southeast Asia…

When would you go back to?

Although I am perfectly happy traveling the world as a technology teacher now, if I had to choose one time to go back to it would be my university years. Those four years of college felt so full of possibility and energy in such a care-free way. Having no real responsibilities, and no one to answer to, made every day an adventure. I went to school about two hours away from my family, at the University of Connecticut. Just far enough so that I felt like I was on my own, but close enough that I could easily get home if I needed to.

UConn is a large school, but was started as an agricultural college, so it’s out in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by fields (with cows and horses). Even though the school was isolated, we had so many students around that it was like it’s own city – a city just for students. It was a place that I felt totally safe and secure, but also a place that posed challenges and questions that I could spend all my time thinking about.

Of course, I had the chance to explore every little thing that might strike my fancy while making friends along the way. I changed majors, took classes in whatever sounded interesting, and tried my hand at a variety of jobs. I was able to study abroad in Florence, Italy and participate in an internship in Washington, DC. At UConn, we lived close enough to both Boston and New York City to go to as many shows as we could afford. The school was big enough to be involved in all sorts of student activites, and I even started one of my own…

I felt like I could do anything, go anywhere, be anyone. Now, as an adult, I feel more settled in the life I chose, a good kind of settled, but sometimes I do miss the freedom of university.

If you could go back in time to some point during your life, when would you go back to?

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I would go back to my Peace Corps days- living with BZ in a hut in Africa was great! School only took place after 12:00pm, so we spent the mornings reading. There was nothing to do at night, so I’d listen to my Prairie Home Companion tapes over and over while working out in the front “yard” (I was in great shape!), then we’d read some more (one week I read 6 books! That was during the rainy season, though, when we couldn’t leave the house for days at a time)……teaching was easy, everyone in the town liked us, we had no bills, and if anything happened to us medically, Peace Corps was responsible for us, so there were no worries at all. Yes, sometimes it was a bit boring, but then the weekend would come and we’d go swimming in the lagoon nearby, or go diving in the beach town 2 hours north of us, and that gave us a jolt of excitement that we needed. I’ve literally never been so free of responsibility in my life. Not that I think responsibility is a bad thing, but it was nice to live without it for a while! Ahhhhh, the good old days…….

You make the Peace Corps sound great! I can definitely see why you would want to go back. I love the idea of waking up every morning and having a few hours to read. Sounds wonderful. It also sounds very different from my impressions of the Peace Corps 🙂 I want to hear more stories of your Peace Corps days!

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superkimbo has been living overseas since 2000 - the first five years in Munich, Germany, then two years in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, and currently in Bangkok, Thailand. superkimbo enjoys the married life with the wonderful albtraum. Nosy? Read more about superkimbo here.